Ascending
by The Smiling Crow
Summary: An April Fool's Day One-Shot. Danny decides to prank the entire city in order to get a little peace and quiet.


I'm not really one for April Fool's Day. My brother is and the rest of us suffer for it, but I never did like pranking people. Particularly since some pranks a couple friends set up got out of hand_.  
_

Anyway, here's a little something I thought of while listening to some organ music on YouTube. It spiraled away into a prank Danny pulls on the town, so I went with it and decided to keep it in stock on my computer until April Fool's Day.

Enjoy.

Oh, and nothing's changed yet, so I still don't own Danny Phantom.

-Crow

* * *

Dash looked on along with most of the rest of the population of Amity Park. The town hero, Danny Phantom, was flying above the crowd, fighting the vampire-looking Wisconsin Ghost.

From what the circling news helicopters could decipher from their witty banter, the Wisconsin Ghost had somehow altered the Fenton Ghost Portal into a bomb.

Green beams crossed with pink as the two figures fought. Vampiric Clones were made and destroyed, things froze over from Phantoms' beams, multiple objects in the vicinity got incinerated from ecto-blasts.

This was the end-all-be-all battle between these two.

After almost a full hour of dodging blasts and lots of property damage (thankfully no human casualties), Phantom took off in the direction of the distinct Fenton UFO. He returned with the large, metal contraption of the Fenton Ghost Portal. There was a large chunk of wall still attached where Phantom ripped it out of the Fenton's basement wall.

Dash saw Phantom connect a few loose wires and the glowing green swirl of the ghost portal sparked to life within the structure. The Wisconsin Ghost shouted something lost to everyone down below.

Phantom held the portal above his head and took a deep breath.

Screaming didn't seem to do whatever it was justice.

The soundwaves coming from his mouth were visible and caused some more property damage in addition to smashing the Wisconsin Ghost against the pavement below.

The psychotic ghost didn't get up that time. Phantom took advantage of it and threw the opened portal down on the ghost, trapping it in the swirling green of the Ghost Zone.

Phantom lifted the massive object and threw it at the sky. When it was far enough away, he zapped it with a well-aimed green ecto-beam and the device exploded in flaming green bits of metal..

The entire town erupted in cheers (save for two particular Fentons who were mourning the loss of their portal).

Phantom smiled and slowly descended into the cheering crowd. Dash noticed Paulina screaming at the Ghost Boy in spitfire Spanish, too excited to remember anything in English.

Phantom looked thoughtfully up to the sky. Through the shouts and cheers, everyone heard his echoey voice murmur. "It's finally over."

The cheers died down to confused murmurs. Dash spoke up. "What's over?"

Phantom smiled. "Everything. No more ghosts, no more Vlad, there's no more reasons for me to be here…"

Everyone was confused. Why would he be smiling if he didn't want to be here? They were cut off as a shaft of light shone through the overcast and illuminated Phantom like a stage light.

"What is it Phantom?" Dash asked his hero as he squinted to see through the brilliant light. It left blue spots on his vision and even then, he couldn't make out what was behind or around the light.

"I have to go." The ghost replied, not taking his eyes off of the light.

"Go? Go where?"

"On."

He smiled and looked back at the townspeople he had protected for so long. He waved one last time to everyone before turning around. He closed his eyes and gently drifted upwards along the shaft of light beyond the clouds, where he was lost from sight.

* * *

-Meanwhile, about 20 feet above the cloudline-

Danny, Tucker, and Sam were all laughing uncontrollably in the floating Fenton Zoomer.

"And then you… and then… aHAhahahahahaHA!" Tucker gasped between laughs.

"Yeah, I actually made it through that with a straight face!" Danny replied. He'd arranged for Tucker and Sam to take the Zoomer out of the lab. From there, it was simple to lower it just to the cloud line and turn on the headlights.

"A bit overdramatic with the whole 'on' thing don't'cha think?" Sam said wiping away a tear.

"Are you kidding? Give me a cooler way to go than THAT!" Danny said triumphantly.

"Still," Tucker said, sobering up. "The town's gonna be pretty upset with losing you, dude."

Danny shrugged. "Eh, the way I see it, for now I don't have to worry about Vlad, ghosts, or my secret. For the next however-long-it-takes for my parents to rebuild the portal or for the next ghost to worm its way through a natural portal, I'm just Danny Fenton."

"So, what'll you say when Danny Phantom has to make a comeback and Vlad escapes?"

The halfa shrugged again. "I dunno. I'll say something along the lines of how the town can't keep itself protected for long and I came back out of noble duty. Maybe I'll even throw in something about what heaven was like…" He smiled.

"So…" said Sam. "What is Heaven like?"

Danny grinned at his now-official girlfriend. He leaned closer to her. "Well…"

"Eh- hem!" Tucker coughed. The two separated with a bright red blush. "Save it for later, guys. We've got the Dumpty Humpty tickets for tonight!"

With that, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Danny _Fenton_ went out as worry-free teenagers for the first time in almost two years.

* * *

-The next day in Casper High-

Danny looked around at his school. Everyone was a bit downtrodden about losing Phantom, but still happy he "moved on". He snickered at the descriptions of the "light".

'Yeah, because an 80 watt headlight bulb is a thing of immaculate beauty.' He thought to himself.

The most unusual thing he came across was a bunch of A-listers crowded around a memorial spot set up in the middle of the hall. Photos and newspaper clippings of Phantom littered the wall while candles were being lit in front of what looked creepily like a white strand of hair in a little jar. He shuddered at the likely probability that it was donated by Paulina's "collection".

In front of the "memorial", Dash was wearing a proper, black suit for the day instead of his usual football vest. Paulina was decked out in traditional funeral wear, complete with a black, wide brim sunhat with matching veil. Her wailing was heard halfway to Connecticut.

Danny honestly didn't care. He knew eventually he'd have to make a comeback as Danny Phantom and in all honesty he welcomed it. He really did. But even superheroes needed a break.

He walked into Mr. Lancer's class and surprised the English teacher with a completed essay and on-time attendance. He could get used to this.

He sat back into his chair, easing into it.

'Yeah' he thought. 'this is the life. Just homework , grades, and puberty to worry about. No Vlad, no secrets, and, best of all, no gho-'

"BEWARE!"

"OH COME ON!"

* * *

AN: Happy April Fool's Day!


End file.
